Turkey

The country of Turkey occupies a position between Europe and Asia. This geographical location has had a major influence on the history of Turkey and on the politics and culture of its people. At one time Turkey was the heart of the large Ottoman Empire that contained much of the Middle East, North Africa, and southeastern Europe. Turkey is sometimes called Asia Minor or Lesser Asia.

Since World War I, Turkey has played a more modest, but still significant, role in international politics. Turkey controls one of the most vital seaways in Europe, the two sets of narrow straits that link the Black Sea with the Mediterranean.

The population of Turkey is roughly 70 million. The earliest known inhabitants were the Hittites, who probably came from Central Asia. Although the present-day Turks are proud of their descent from the Hittites, they are in fact a mixture of other peoples who entered the country at various times such as Persians, Celts, Romans, Arabs, and Seljuk Turks. The Seljuk Turks came from Central Asia, where they had adopted the Muslim faith, and entered Asia Minor in the 11th century. Most Turks are similar in appearance to the other peoples of the eastern Mediterranean region.

Approximately two thirds of the population is made up of ethnic Turks. The largest minority group is the Kurds, who probably make up at least 15 percent of the population. They speak an Iranian language and are separated by political boundaries from other Kurds who live in Iran and Iraq. They have fiercely resisted attempts to turn them into Turks. Other minority groups are much smaller and include Arabs, Greeks, Armenians, Georgians, Circassians, and Jews.

About 97 percent of the population is Muslim, the remainder being Christian or Jewish. Turkey differs from many other Muslim countries because Atatürk, the national leader from 1923 to 1938, attempted to reduce the influence of the religion of Islam in Turkey. He abolished Islamic law and removed the power of the religious leaders. Islam was declared no longer to be the state religion.

About two thirds of the population lives in cities and towns. The largest city is Istanbul with about 8 million inhabitants. Formerly known as Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires, Istanbul contains many historic buildings of the Christian and Muslim periods. It is situated on the shore of the Bosporus in Europe. Ankara, with about 3 million inhabitants, has been the capital of Turkey since 1923. It is located on the western plateau. Ankara was selected as the capital instead of Istanbul because its location was more secure from attack from abroad. Other major cities are Izmir, the major port of Asia Minor, and Adana, on the Cilician Plain.

Turkish music reflects its Middle Eastern origin and has strong Arabic and Persian influences. Folk music and folk themes are still popular, though Western influenced music—especially for dancing and in places of entertainment—has appeared in recent years.

Children in Turkey must attend school between the ages of 7 and 12. After three years at a secondary school, they may go to a lycée, which prepares them for the university. There are also technical, agricultural, and commercial secondary schools. Education at state schools is free. Only a few of Turkey's many universities were founded before the 20th century. One of the oldest, and the largest, is the University of Istanbul.

The Turkish language belongs to the Turkic family of languages that are widespread in eastern Europe and in Central and North Asia. Turkish was traditionally written with Arabic script, but since 1928 the Latin alphabet has been used. About 18 percent of the population—mainly in the rural areas—is still unable to read or write.

Istanbul For centuries the ancient city of Istanbul was known as Constantinople, the name it was given when it became the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. While it is no longer a capital city, Istanbul is still the cultural center of modern Turkey. It straddles the Bosporus, a narrow strait that divides the continents of Europe and Asia—a strategic location that has made it the largest city and seaport of the Turkish republic.

Stamboul, the heart of old Istanbul, covers a hilly peninsula. The Sea of Marmara is on the south, the Bosporus on the east, and a deep inlet called the Golden Horn on the north. The western boundary of the old city is marked by the remains of a 7th-century wall that stretches more than 4 miles from the Sea of Marmara to the Golden Horn. At the easternmost point of the peninsula stands the restored Topkapi Palace, once the home of the Ottoman sultans and

now a museum. At the northern edge of the palace grounds is the Sirkeci (vinegar makers) district of nightclubs, restaurants, and entertainment.

Economic activity is linked to trade and commerce. The Grand Bazaar, or Covered Bazaar, features more than 4,000 shops that sell gold jewelry, carpets, and ceramic, copper, and brass ware.

Istanbul is Turkey's largest port and center of wholesale commerce and transportation. The excellent natural harbor it maintained for centuries in the Golden Horn and the city's key location on the trade routes between Europe and Asia made it a

major transshipping point.

The Galata Bridge crosses the Golden Horn at Istanbul, Turkey. The narrow horn separates European and Asia Turkey.

The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey, is a huge covered market selling Turkish jewelry, carpets, and accessories.

The Bosporus

The dividing line between the European and Asian sections of the Turkish city of Istanbul (Constantinople) is the strait of the Bosporus. It lies between the Black Sea, to the north, and the Sea of Marmara. The strait is lined with villages, ancient towers and forts, and lovely palaces and summer homes.

The Bosporus has for centuries played a strategic role in the defense of Constantinople (now Istanbul). In the 18th and 19th centuries, various European powers tried to control the strait. In 1923 the Bosporus was internationalized under the Lausanne Convention. The Montreux Convention (1936) restored Turkish sovereignty and restricted access of

non–Black Sea states. The first southern link between Europe and Asia in nearly 2,500 years was a bridge across the Bosporus that opened in 1973

Two suspension bridges spanning the Bosporus in Istanbul, Turkey, were built to aid the flow of goods and traffic through the city. The Bosporus Bridges, connect the Asian and European sections of the city.

The Black SeaTwo arms of land enclose the Black Sea—the Balkan Peninsula, which thrusts southward from Europe, and the peninsula of Asia Minor, projecting westward from Asia. The sea connects with the Mediterranean through the Bosporus strait, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles strait. The area of the Black Sea (including a baylike arm, the Sea of Azov) is 162,280 square miles—about one sixth the size of the Mediterranean. Its

greatest length is 750 miles; its greatest width, 350 miles; and its greatest depth, 7,257 feet.

Great rivers empty into the Black Sea, among them the Danube, Dniester, Bug, Dnieper, Don, and Kuban. This large inflow of fresh water makes the upper levels of the sea less salty. While some fresh water flows out via a surface current toward the Bosporus, a lower-level current brings in salt water from the Mediterranean. There is some seasonal migration of fish, notably through the Bosporus. Below about 600 feet, however, the sea's waters are stagnant, preventing replenishment of the oxygen necessary for animal life.

On the whole, the Black Sea climate is mild, with cool summers, warm autumns, short winters, and prolonged springs. The best natural harbor on the sea is Sevastopol', a former Soviet naval base on the Crimean Peninsula. The Black Sea is an important year-round transportation artery, linking the Eastern European nations with world markets. Lying where Europe and Asia meet, the Black Sea has been important for 30 centuries. After the Turks captured Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1453, they closed the sea to all but their own ships. The Russians later obtained rights of passage for their vessels. For them the Black Sea, with

its Mediterranean outlets, is vital as an avenue of transportation. It is also a major recreational center and vacation area.

The Dardanelles Strait

A ribbon of water, only 38 miles long and from 3/4 to 4 miles wide, separates the continent of Europe from the westernmost tip of Asia Minor. This strategically important strait is the Dardanelles, in northwestern Turkey. It leads from the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara and then through the Bosporus strait to the Black Sea. Thus the Dardanelles is the outer gateway to a great productive area. The world's ships must pass through here to reach the grain ports of Ukraine and the oil ports of Romania and the Caucasus region.

The strait is rich with history and legend, with many castles along it’s banks. In ancient times it was called the Hellespont, meaning “Helle's sea,” in memory of Helle, a mythical Boetian princess. She was drowned in its swift waters after falling from the back of the legendary ram with the golden fleece. In another ancient Greek legend, the strait is associated with Leander, who swam across it nightly to visit Hero, a priestess of Aphrodite.

In 480 BC Persia's king Xerxes I sent his army across the strait on a bridge of boats to invade Greece. In 334 BC Alexander the Great similarly crossed from Greece to invade Persia. The strait takes its name from the old town of Dardanus, near Troy.

The Dardanelles passed into Turkey's control in 1453. In later years Turkish control was supported by British diplomacy, which sought to bar Russia from the Mediterranean. But in World War I Turkey was allied with Germany. The British, wanting to get aid to Russia through the Black Sea, tried to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915–16. They were thrown back and the Dardanelles remained unconquered.

After Turkey's defeat in 1917 the Dardanelles became part of a neutral “zone of straits,” which was under control of the League of Nations. In 1923 the Treaty of Lausanne returned the region to Turkey. At first Turkey was denied the right to fortify the straits. In 1936, however, another treaty restored this right and also permitted Turkey to close the straits to belligerent ships in wartime, which it did during World War II.

Iran

The Middle Eastern nation of Iran was once the heartland of the ancient Persian Empire. About 2,500

years ago the empire extended from the Indus Valley, in what is now Pakistan, to the Nile River and parts of present-day Libya in northern Africa. The state was popularly known as Persia, a name first used by the ancient Greeks, after the ancient province of Parsa. The people of this land, however, always called their country Iran, or the land of the Aryans. In 1935 the government officially adopted the name Iran in order to draw attention to the Aryan origin of the people. This was

part of a nationalistic movement that was being promoted at that time. Since the religious revolution that took place in 1979, the country officially has been called the Islamic Republic of Iran. The capital of Iran is Tehran.

Iran is located in one of the most active earthquake belts in the world. More than 130 earthquakes of magnitude 7.5 or greater have struck Iran over the past several centuries. Twenty major earthquakes occurred in the 20th century alone, killing a total of more than 140,000 people, and in some cases destroying entire towns and villages. More

than 12,000 people died as the result of a 1962 earthquake; a similar number died after a 1968 earthquake. In 1990 an earthquake in the western part of the country registering a magnitude of 7.7 claimed more than 40,000 lives.

About one sixth of Iran's land area consists of desert. The desert region is covered partly by loose sand and stones, which are called dasht, and partly by large, sharp-edged salt masses, known as kavir. The kavir make up a desolate region that is practically uninhabited and unexplored.

Iran is the only country in the Middle East that uses the Islamic solar calendar, which originated before the beginning of the Persian Empire (550 BC). After the conversion of the vast majority of Iranians to Islam, the ancient Iranian calendar was adjusted to begin with the year of the Prophet Muhammad's immigration to Medina (the hijrah), equivalent to AD 622 in the Gregorian calendar. No-ruz (New Year's Day) falls on March 21, the vernal equinox. To convert from the Islamic solar calendar to the Gregorian calendar, 621 or 622 years—depending on the month—are added to the Iranian year. (For example, the Iranian year 1361 began on March 21, 1982, and ended on March 20, 1983.) The Arabic lunar calendar

is used for religious observances.

Education is free and compulsory between the ages of 6 and 14, but classroom facilities in many villages are inadequate. Primary education is followed by a three-year guidance cycle, which assesses students' aptitudes and determines whether they will follow an academic, science, or vocational program during high school. With the revolution of 1979 came new policies for education, including the elimination of mixed-sex schools and the requirement that all schools and universities reflect the Islamic system of beliefs. Admission to a university is partially based on a student's belief in Islam. Iran's main institution of higher learning is the University of Tehran, founded in 1934.

Before the establishment of the Islamic republic, most women in Iranian cities had begun to discard their traditional clothing of black trousers and an all-covering black veil, called a chador, and wore European-style clothes. Since the Islamic Revolution, however, a strict interpretation of the Islamic dress code for women has been enforced; women are required to dress modestly in public and must wear a chador or other suitable head covering. Failure to observe the dress code results in arrest and punishment.

Daily newspapers and periodicals are published primarily in Tehran and must be licensed under the press law of 1979. All broadcasting is under the control of the government. Most of the country's cultural institutions are concentrated in Tehran.

Wadi

Wadi is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some cases, it may refer to a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain or simply an intermittent stream.

Modern English usage differentiates a wadi from another canyon or wash by the action and prevalence of water. Wadis, as drainage courses, are formed by water, but are distinguished from river valleys or gullies in that surface water is intermittent or ephemeral. Wadis, cut by stream in a desert environment, generally are dry year round except after a rain. The desert environment is characterized by a sudden but infrequent heavy rainfall often resulting in flash floods. Crossing wadis at certain times of the year can be dangerous because of unexpected flash floods. Such flash floods cause several deaths each year in North America and many Middle Eastern countries.

Wadis tend to be associated with centers of human population because sub-surface water is sometimes available in them. Nomadic and pastoral desert peoples will rely on seasonal vegetation found in wadis, even in regions as dry as the Sahara, as they travel in complex caravan routes.

Ganaats

The earliest form of aqueduct was the qanaat. A qanaat is a tunnel that begins slightly below

the

water table in the foothills of a mountain or a range of hills. This tunnel leads away from the foothills, gradually downhill, to carry water to a village or city. Qanaats were used widely

throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa (where they were known as fogarras). Their greatest development, however, was in Persia (now Iran). There qanaats are still in use and are constructed in much the same manner as they were in ancient times.

A famous early tunnel aqueduct was cut through solid rock in about 700 BC to carry water from the spring of Gihom to the Siloam reservoir in Jerusalem, a distance of about 1,750 feet. In 691 BC, King Sennacherib of Assyria ordered construction of the aqueduct of Jerwan, which brought water from a tributary of the Greater Zab River to Nineveh, some 50 miles away. Another aqueduct, built on the Aegean island of Samos in about 530 BC, traveled through a hill by means of a tunnel about 3,300 feet long. Water flowed through clay pipes laid within the tunnel.

The most famous aqueduct builders of ancient times were the Romans. The word aqueduct comes from the Latin aqua (“water”) and ducere (“to lead”). Roman engineers built the main portions of their aqueducts at ground level or underground where possible. The water fed through free-flowing conduits. When it was necessary for the Roman aqueducts to cross valleys or descend to plains, they were often carried on arched bridges, or arcades. Some bridges were built with two or three tiers of arches to gain the height needed to maintain an even flow. The bridges and arcades were more difficult to build and required more maintenance than the surface level or underground portions of the aqueducts.

Middle East

Located at the junction of three continents—Europe, Asia, and Africa—the region known as the Middle East has historically been a crossroads for conquerors, peoples, trade, and ideas as well as a transition zone for political and cultural interaction. Today the Middle East's strategic location as a tricontinental hub and its vast petroleum reserves, importance to Muslims, Christians, and Jews alike, and many political disputes give it a global significance out of proportion to its size.

The Middle East is a culturally, politically, and economically diverse region that extends for some 5,000 miles from west to east and some 2,000 miles from north to south. It is made up of several countries located on or near the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Middle East occupies an area where three plates of Earth's crust meet. The convergence of these tectonic plates has produced high fold mountain ranges, particularly in Turkey (the Pontic and Taurus), Iran (the Elburz and Zagros), and Afghanistan (the Hindu Kush). All these ranges have peaks exceeding 12,000 feet. Other highland areas are found inland from the Mediterranean coasts of Lebanon and Syria and in the southwestern and southeastern Arabian Peninsula. Elsewhere the region consists of extensive plateaus and lowland plains. The same forces that built the region's mountains are responsible for periodic destructive earthquakes.

Although the Middle East includes diverse groups of peoples, many share common religious, linguistic, and cultural ties. Roughly 90 percent of the population are Muslim, and Muslims make up the majority in all countries in the region except in Israel, which has a Jewish majority. Islam originated in the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century AD and rapidly spread to the rest of the region as well as to many other parts of the world. Muhammad, the revered prophet of Islam, was an Arab, and the world's most sacred Islamic shrines are found in the region, particularly Muhammad's birthplace, Mecca, which is now in Saudi Arabia.

The Middle East was also the birthplace of Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism. Before Israel's creation in 1948, Yemen, Egypt, and Iraq all had large Jewish communities. Most of these Jews (and others) settled in Israel, the world's only predominantly Jewish state.

Zoroastrianism

The ancient Iranian (or Persian) religion was reformed during the 7th and 6th centuries BC by a legendary figure named Zoroaster, or Zarathustra. Despite the furious onslaughts of Islam, beginning in the 7th century, Zoroastrianism has survived into the 20th century. The majority of its adherents live in India and are known as Parsis, which means “Persians.” A lesser number still live in Iran, where they were

until recently referred to as Gabars. The term gabar is derived from an Arabic word meaning “infidel.” In the early 20th century, when wider religious tolerance was granted in Iran, the term ceased to be used.

Little is known of Zoroaster himself. He is said to have lived for 77 years, and his dates are variously given as 630–553, 628–551, and 618–541 BC. The prevailing religion of his time was a cult of many gods. He rejected all but one of them—Ahura Mazda, or Ormazd. The principle of evil was named Ahriman. A struggle between the two resulted in the creation of the world. Since its creation the whole world has been embroiled in the battle between good and evil, light and darkness.

Later Zoroastrianism conceived the history of the world as a vast drama divided into four periods of 3,000 years each. At the end of the first 3,000 years, creation of the material world takes place. At the end of the second, Ahriman arrives to corrupt the creation. In the third period he triumphs but finds himself trapped in creation and doomed to generate his own self-destruction. The beginning of the fourth period witnesses the coming of religion on Earth through the birth of Zoroaster.

Each thousand years thereafter there will appear a new prophet or savior as a successor of Zoroaster. The last of these will bring about the final judgment, dispense immortality, and usher in a new world.

Humanity, according to Zoroaster, is mortal and corrupted by Ahriman. Life, therefore, becomes a struggle by humans to embrace the light and avoid the darkness of evil. After death the soul crosses a bridge and passes either into heaven or hell. In later Zoroastrianism the end of the world was thought of as in the distant future. It was also believed that the souls of the damned would be purged so that they could share in the final renovation of the world.

Zagros MountainsMountain range dominating the western Iran, touching Iraq. Another designation is Kurdish Mountains. The name Zagros, comes from the Zagarthian people, probably of European ancestry.

The total length of the mountain ridges that make up Zagros is about 500 miles long, beginning in northeastern Iraq, ending at the Strait of Hormuz. Many peaks are higher than 1,000 feet. The highest single mountain is the Zard Kuh at an elevation of 1, 5156 feet.

The main stone of the Zagros are limestone and dolomite. Snow is common in winter, and many mountains peaks have some snow even through summer. Many parts of the Zagros can have annual rainfall passing 18 inches. Some of the rivers on the western side of the mountain range carry water all through the year.

The Zagros region helps to give good conditions for agriculture in the nearby valleys, and

agriculture and livestock raising are the main sources of income in the region.

Tigris River

The streams that join to form the Tigris River begin in high mountains that rim Lake Van in eastern Turkey. Leaving Turkey, the Tigris touches the northeastern border of Syria and then flows southeastward across Iraq. In Iraq it is joined by tributaries from the east—principally the Great Zab, Little Zab, and Diyala. The Euphrates, west of the Tigris, runs in the same general direction.

In ancient times the two rivers had separate mouths. Now they meet in a swamp in southern Iraq and form a single stream, the Shatt al 'Arab, which flows into the head of the Persian Gulf. The Tigris, 1,180 miles long, is shorter than the Euphrates, but it is more important commercially because its channel is deeper.

The fertile region between the Tigris and the Euphrates was called Mesopotamia by the ancient Greeks. Here flourished the earliest known civilization. The Tigris was the great river of Assyria. The ancient city of Assur, which gave its name to Assyria, stood on its banks, as did Nineveh, Assyria's splendid capital. Much later the Macedonian general Seleucus built his capital city Seleucia on the Tigris, and across the river from Seleucia the Parthian kings built Ctesiphon. The chief cities on the river today are Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, and Mosul, farther upstream. Basra, on the Shatt al 'Arab, is Iraq's major port.

Since ancient times the people of Mesopotamia have depended on the water of the two rivers to irrigate their hot, dry land. The soil itself is largely a gift of the rivers, which deposit tremendous quantities of silt on their lower course and in the northern part of the Persian Gulf. As a result of these deposits, ruins of cities that were once gulf ports now lie far inland.

Euphrates RiverThe longest river of western Asia is the 1,700-mile Euphrates. It begins in the high mountains of eastern Turkey, crosses eastern Syria, and then flows southeastward through the length of Iraq. Because of Iraq's hot, dry climate much of the river's water is lost through evaporation and use for irrigation. The river receives most of its water from winter rains and snowfall. It is navigable only by flat-bottomed riverboats. The Tigris, its twin river to the east, runs almost parallel with it. The two merge in a swamp to form the Shatt Al ‘Arab, which flows into the

Persian Gulf about 100 miles to the southeast. There are two flood periods each year. The rivers carry a heavy load of silt and have deposited much of it, forming a great, agriculturally productive alluvial plain. The major tributaries of the Euphrates are the Balikh, Al Khabur, and Gharraf Channel.

The land between the two rivers was an early center of civilization called Mesopotamia. In the 13th century its irrigation system was destroyed by the Mongols, and the rich plain again became desert and marsh. In spite of some modern irrigation, its ancient fertility is not yet entirely recovered. With hot summer temperatures and little rainfall, large areas of the plain must be irrigated with waters from the Euphrates and Tigris to support crops of wheat, barley, millet, rice, and dates.

Dead SeaBetween Israel and Jordan lies the Dead Sea, a salt lake located on the lowest point of Earth's surface. Its basin lies some 1,300 feet below sea level, making it the lowest body of water in the world. The lake is about 50 miles long and 11 miles wide. Its surface area is about 394 square miles.

The Dead Sea extends from north to south in a great depression between rocky cliffs. The depression is a rift valley, caused by Earth's crust having slipped down between two parallel fractures. The valley is a part of the Great Rift Valley, which continues northward through the Jordan River valley and the Sea of Galilee, and southward through the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea and across East Africa.

The Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea from the north, and four smaller streams feed the lake from the east. Many small, intermittent streams also flow into the lake. No rivers flow out of the Dead Sea.

Temperatures at the Dead Sea are very hot in summer and mild in winter. Situated in a desert, the lake seldom receives more than 3 inches of rain a year. Evaporation carries off about the top 55 inches of the lake's waters annually. This evaporation often results in a thick mist that hovers over the lake.

Evaporation also helps to concentrate salt and other minerals in the lake. The Dead Sea is the world's saltiest natural lake. Its near-surface waters are more than eight times as saline as the ocean, and the lake's salt concentration increases with depth. The extreme salinity allows human bathers to float easily, but it prevents all living things except bacteria from inhabiting the lake. Several minerals, including salt, potash, bromides, and bitumen, or

native asphalt, are commercially extracted from its shores.

The name Dead Sea can be traced back to at least the first century BC. In the Hebrew Bible the lake was variously called the Salt Sea, the Sea of the Plain, and the East Sea. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, whose destruction is described in the biblical book of Genesis, were located on its

shores. The biblical manuscripts known as the Dead Sea Scrolls were found on the northwest shore, near the ruins known as Khirbat Qumran

Jordan RiverFlowing southward from Syria across Israel and into Jordan, the Jordan River is the lowest river in the world. From the Hula Panhandle, a marshy region at the northern tip of Israel, the river drops sharply to the Sea of Galilee, 686 feet below sea level. It is more than 223 miles long. Over most of its course the river is shallow and rapid flowing. The Jordan has often served as an international boundary and since 1967 has marked the cease-fire line between Israeli-occupied territory to the west and Jordan to the east.

The headwaters of the Jordan originate on snow-covered Mount Hermon in southern Syria and Lebanon. These streams flow into the Hula Panhandle. Most of the basin

has been drained for agriculture, but a small part has been preserved for the natural vegetation and animal life. This lake serves to stabilize the river's rate of flow to the Dead Sea. Between these two lakes the river winds through a plain in a narrow, high-walled valley. The elevation at the Dead Sea, the lowest lake in the world, is 1,315 feet below sea level.

The Jordan is fed by rains falling on its neighboring plateaus, but little rain actually falls into the deep valley, so agriculture along the river is completely dependent on irrigation. The river is also fed by water from thermal springs that have a high mineral content. As a result, the river waters could not be used for farming until dams and drainage canals were built, ensuring a water supply adequate to dissolve and remove the poison salts from the soil.

In irrigated areas the Jordan Valley has been settled by Arab and Jewish agricultural communities. The Ghawr irrigation canal, which is 43 miles long, was completed in 1967 and has made possible the cultivation of oranges, bananas, early vegetables, and sugar beets.

More than 11 billion cubic feet of the Jordan's water is pumped annually to the center and south of Israel.

The river was called the Aulon by the Greeks, ha-Yarden by the Hebrews, and Ash Shari‘ah (Watering Place) by the Arabs. Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike revere the Jordan.

Israel The State of Israel lies at the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea, within the region known as the Middle East. The state was established in 1948 as a

homeland for the Jewish people. Israel has had to forge a nation from the diverse Jewish people who immigrated from all parts of the world, while trying to integrate a large Arab minority. While striving to perpetuate the religious and cultural traditions that contributed to the Zionist rebirth, the tiny country was also forced to become a first-rate military power. The state was created from part of Palestine, a region also claimed by Palestinian Arabs. Israel fought five wars with neighboring Arab states in the period from 1948 to 1982 and has been involved in ongoing conflict with the Palestinians. Israel claims Jerusalem as its capital.

Israel is bordered by Egypt on the southwest, Jordan on the east, Syria on the northeast, Lebanon on the north, and the Mediterranean Sea on the west. The southern tip of the country lies on the Gulf of Aqaba, an arm of the Red Sea. During the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel occupied East Jerusalem; the West Bank, territory along the western bank of the Jordan River; the Gaza Strip, to the west along the Mediterranean Sea; and the Golan Heights, to the northeast in the upper Jordan River valley. The decades-long occupation of these territories led to repeated violent conflicts between the Israeli government and Palestinian settlers in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Israel is the world's only Jewish state. The composition of the population has been shaped by the massive immigration of Jews from all over the world. Almost 80 percent of the country's people are Jews, and most of the rest are Palestinian Arabs. Although Judaism is the principal religion, Israel has no official state religion, and freedom of worship is guaranteed. Israeli Arabs are citizens with political and civil rights that are equal to those of Israeli Jews, except regarding some limitations on military service. Nevertheless, the two groups have a long, complex history marked by conflict and mistrust, and their cultures have tended not to mix. The vast majority of the population of the Israeli-occupied territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are Palestinian Arabs.

Rub’ al Khali The Rub Al-Khali, or Empty Quarter, is the vast expanse of desert that covers much of the Southern half of the Arabian Peninsula. It makes up about a third of Saudi

Arabia and extends into both Yemen and Oman. Its size makes it one of the world’s largest deserts, as it covers about 25,000 square miles of land.

The harsh conditions of the Rub Al-Khali mean that it has seldomly been inhabited or even explored by humans. The nomadic Bedouins that have lived on the Arabian Peninsula for thousands of years deliberately set up travel routes that would only skirt the edges of the Rub Al-Khali. This is not surprising, since on an average summer day, the temperature can easily rise to 131 degrees F. Surprisingly, the extreme

temperatures of the Rub Al-Khali still allow for many species of birds, plants and insects to flourish.

The Rub Al-Khali is of great importance from a natural resources standpoint. It is generally considered to have the highest amount of untapped oil. Some of the largest oil fields in the world extend into this forbidding desert. Yet, the normal conditions of the desert life make it hard to stray too far into the Empty Quarter. At one point, before 300 BCE, some trade routes of the Bedouins did cross into the Rub Al-Khali, but these had to be planned very carefully. Some of the sand dunes in this desert reach heights of over 1000 feet, making it an impossible climb for a slow moving caravan.

One interesting aspect of the Rub Al-Khali is the number of dry lake beds that can be found there. Scientists estimate that likely about 40,000 years ago, the Empty Quarter was a fertile place, benefiting from monsoon seasons. Climatologists believe that the monsoons gradually moved, benefiting areas like Egypt and India, and resulting in the drying up of numerous water sources in the Saudi desert. Fossil records show freshwater shells and a thriving population of animals that could not survive the Empty Quarter’s current conditions.

The Empty Quarter is really not so empty, although it can appear so to the naked eye. In addition to having the largest oil supply on Earth, many discoveries of existing plant and animal life have been made since 2006, when a huge expedition of scientists of several different disciplines explored large sections of the Rub Al-Khali. Scientists found 31 different plant species, and 24 different birds that make the Rub Al-Khali home. There are also impressive records of meteor rocks and a large number of fossils, expanding the catalogue of creatures and plant life that have existed or still exist on the earth.

Sea of Galilee

Located in northern Israel, the Sea of Galilee is really a lake. It is pear-shaped, 13 miles from north to south, and 7 miles east to west. Situated 686 feet below the level of the Mediterranean Sea, its surface area is 64 square miles , and the maximum depth is 157 feet. The Jordan River flows into the Sea of Galilee from Syria and continues south out of it.

The lake would be an inconsequential one but for two reasons: powerful historical associations and current economic value.

Over the centuries the Sea of Galilee has been called by other names: Lake Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, and Sea of Tiberias. Christians around the world associate the lake with several events in the life of Jesus. There were at least nine cities on its shores in ancient times. Capernaum (or Kefar Nahum) to the northwest has preserved one of the most beautiful Jewish synagogues in the area, dating back to the 2nd and 3rd centuries. In the 20th century the region was the site of the first Jewish kibbutz (a communal farm), Deganya, founded in 1909. The city of Tiberias, on the lake's western shore, is the principal community surviving from ancient times. The city is one of Israel's chief winter resorts because of nearby thermal baths and the area's moderate climate.

The area around the Sea of Galilee has been systematically developed over the centuries by irrigation and, more recently, through modern agricultural techniques. In the 1960s the lake became the starting point for the National Water Carrier, a large canal that conveys water to the coastal

areas as well as to the Negev Desert in the south. Several hundred tons of fishes are

netted annually from the lake itself.

Sinai PeninsulaA triangular landform linking Africa and Asia, Egypt's Sinai Peninsula has an area of about 23,440 square miles. It lies between the Gulf of Suez and the Suez Canal on the west, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Negev desert on the east, the Mediterranean Sea on the north, and the Red Sea on the south. Mount Sinai is renowned as the principal site of divine revelation in Jewish history, where God appeared to Moses and gave him the Ten Commandments. It is also sacred in both Christian and Islamic tradition.

The peninsula's southern region is a complex of high mountains made up of igneous rocks. Egypt's highest point, Jebel Katherina, reaches 8,655 feet. Deep seasonal watercourses drain toward the Gulf of Aqaba or the Gulf of Suez. The northern region, forming two thirds of Sinai, is a great plateau sloping towards the Mediterranean. It is characterized by an extensive plain, a number of island like massifs, and broad coastal plains with extensive sand dunes.

The desert climate has an average annual rainfall of less than 10 inches . About one fourth of the total rainfall percolates to groundwater reservoirs, providing excellent opportunities for water conservation. Summers are dry and intensely hot. Winters are variable with about 5 inches of rainfall. The higher mountain peaks are covered with ice in winter. Natural vegetation is sparse, and consists largely of medicinal and fodder plants and shrubs. Wildlife is rare.

The scanty population is mostly concentrated in the northern fringe, where water supplies are adequate, and in the western fringe, where petroleum and manganese industries have been developed. The settled population is engaged in agriculture and land reclamation and in the petroleum, mining, and fishing industries. The wandering Bedouin tribes, of Arab origin, migrate with the changing availability of water and pasture. Agricultural activities include the grazing of livestock and the cultivation of barley, melons, and olives. Date-palm groves are widely distributed. Irrigation is practiced in deltaic areas with water pumped from underground sources. Petroleum was first discovered in 1910 in western Sinai. Other minerals include manganese, glass sand, coal, copper, phosphates, iron, and uranium.

The earliest written reference to Sinai dates from 3000 BC. The name Sinai may have been derived from the original name of one of the oldest Near Eastern religious cults, that of the moon god Sin. The Monastery of St. Catherine, which was founded in about AD 527 at the base of Mount Sinai, is probably the world's oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery. A community of Eastern Orthodox Christian monks still resides there. The Sinai Peninsula has been under Egyptian control since World War I. It was occupied by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967 but was returned to Egypt in 1982 under the terms of the 1979 peace treaty.

CyprusAn island nation in the Mediterranean Sea, Cyprus is

located approximately 40 miles south of Turkey and 60 miles west of Syria. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean and has an area of 3,572 square miles. Since 1974 the northern third of the island has been under the control of the Turkish Cypriot community, while the southern two thirds remains predominantly Greek Cypriot.

The island's highest point, Mount Olympus, is in the Troödos range and reaches a height of 6,406 feet. Copper was once plentiful in this range, but reserves are now largely depleted. (The name of the metal was actually derived from that of the island, since copper was once so significant a resource. It was mined there as

early as 2500 BC.)

The majority of Cypriots are of Greek descent. They speak Greek and are mostly Cypriot Orthodox Christians. Those of Turkish descent, a legacy from the Ottoman period, speak Turkish and are mostly Muslims. As a result of the Turkish invasion of 1974, most Greek Cypriots fled the northern part of the island and now live in the south. The island is primarily rural with only two cities having more than 100,000 inhabitants—Nicosia and Limassol. Both Greek and Turkish are official languages.

Persian Gulf A shallow sea of the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf separates the Arabian Peninsula from Iran in southwestern Asia. It is bordered by Iran to the north, part of Oman to the east, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to the south, Saudi Arabia to the southwest, and Kuwait and Iraq to the northwest. Covering a surface area of 92,500 square miles, the gulf extends 615 miles from northwest to southeast The island kingdom of Bahrain is the largest among the numerous islands in the gulf.

Very high temperatures, high humidity, and sparse rainfall are characteristics of the gulf region's climate. Water temperatures average 90° F in August and 64° F in February. Dust storms and haze occur frequently in summer. In autumn winds can reach velocities of 95 miles per hour in as little as five minutes. Tidal currents are strong in the gulf entrance near the Strait of Hormuz. Large quantities of fine dust are blown into the gulf from the surrounding desert areas.

The gulf receives freshwater flow mostly from the Shatt al 'Arab estuary of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and from the Karun River in the north. There are some seasonal streams on the Iranian coast, but there is almost no freshwater inflow on the southwestern side. High

water temperatures, together with low freshwater inflow, result in high salinity (up to 40 parts per 1,000 in the extreme northwest). There are extensive salt flats on the coasts.

The present-day gulf is probably the remnant of a once much larger basin. Over the years sediments thousands of feet deep accumulated in the basin and ultimately became the source of the vast petroleum resources of the region.

The British became the dominant power in the Persian Gulf area by the end of the 18th century. Most of the states gained independence by the early

1970s. Before the discovery of petroleum in Iran in 1908, the local economy was centered on pearl fishing, the building of dhows (small boats), camel breeding, and date growing. Today traditional industries have declined, and the gulf economy is dominated by petroleum production.

The Persian Gulf is surrounded by countries that produce approximately one third of the world's total petroleum and have nearly two thirds of the world's proven reserves. Ongoing explorations indicate the presence of large reserves of oil and gas beneath the gulf and in the surrounding areas. Petroleum deposits are contained in porous limestones and sandstones, and gas deposits are largely contained in limestones. Large quantities of oil are refined locally in most of the gulf countries, and crude oil is exported to northwestern Europe, the United States, and other parts of the world.

From 1983 to 1988 the gulf's role as a vital waterway was jeopardized by a war between Iran and Iraq. Several ports were damaged or destroyed by bombings. Iran tried to block the Strait of Hormuz to all traffic and by 1987 was accused of mining the gulf. The United States put its flags on Kuwaiti petroleum tankers and provided Navy sea and air escorts for the vessels. On

Aug. 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. Within days a United Nations trade embargo was enacted against the two countries, and United States troops were sent to Saudi Arabia to defend Western oil interests. Worldwide oil and gasoline prices skyrocketed, and financial markets became unstable.

Arabian Sea Located between the Indian and Arabian peninsulas in the northwestern section of the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea forms part of the major trade route between India and the countries of Europe. It is also bounded on the north by Pakistan and Iran, and on the west by the Horn of Africa. The principal waterway draining into the Arabian Sea is the Indus River. The total area of the sea is about 1,491,000 square miles.

High levels of phosphates and other inorganic nutrients that support a rich fish life have been recorded in the western part of the sea. Fishes living at or near the sea's surface but far from the land borders include tuna, sardines, billfish, wahoo, sharks, lancet fish, and moonfish. Mass mortality of fishes is a periodic phenomenon in the Arabian Sea. For example, in an area of approximately 77,000 square miles about 20 million tons of fishes were believed to have died in 1957. This occurrence was attributed to the unusual presence of certain unfavorable surface water conditions that caused the fishes to die from lack of oxygen.

From about the 8th or 9th century onward, Arabian and Persian mariners learned to navigate by using the surface currents generated by the summer and winter monsoon winds. Between the 9th and 15th centuries various navigators compiled instructions for sailing between southern Arabian, East African, and Red Sea ports, as well as ports in India, Malaysia, and China. Some of these works, called in Persian rahmangs (book of routes), contain useful information on navigating by the stars and on winds, currents, soundings, descriptions of coasts, approaches, and islands of the Arabian

Sea.

Mecca, Saudi Arabia

The most holy city of Islam, Mecca is the birthplace of the prophet Muhammad . Devout Muslims throughout the world turn toward Mecca in prayer five times each day. Every Muslim hopes to make a hajj, or pilgrimage, to its shrine at least once. Non-Muslims are not permitted to enter its gates. It is the capital of Makkah Administrative District.

The city is located in the sandy, narrow valley of the Wadi (seasonal river) Ibrahim, 45 miles inland from the Red Sea port of Jiddah. Surrounded by the Sirat Mountains. Although the dry climate has high temperatures and low rainfall, the city is subject to seasonal flash floods.

Jabal Hira on the northeast contains a cave in which Muhammad sought isolation and had visions before he became a prophet. He also received the first verse of the Koran in this cave.

Mecca's economy is largely based on income from pilgrimages. Local Meccans work as guides or are involved in housing or feeding the pilgrims. Industries include the manufacture of textiles, rugs, perfumes, furniture, utensils, and pottery. Dates and rice are grown

on nearby oases. Because arable land and water are scarce, Mecca must import all of its food. The city has several schools and hospitals. There are two university-level colleges.

Much economic development of Mecca was made possible in the 20th century by the Saudi Arabian petroleum-based economy. The surrounding areas of the Great Mosque were cleared, sanitation and housing improved, and streets widened and underground walkways constructed for better movement of traffic. Since World War II many areas have been renovated and Mecca transformed into a modern city. It is now Saudi Arabia's third most populous city after Riyadh and Jiddah (also spelled Jeddah). It hosts the world's major Islamic conferences. During the 12th month of the Islamic (Arabic) lunar year, Mecca receives about 2 million pilgrims.

Mecca is served by the seaport of Jiddah and Jiddah's international airport. A well-developed transport network carries people to religious places. Pilgrims pay large sums as pilgrimage taxes, and in return authorities see to it that there are food and water, security, and hygiene.

Mecca centers on al Haram, or the Great Mosque, and the sacred well of Zamzam. In its central courtyard is the Kaaba, a cube-shaped black stone sanctuary—the holiest shrine of Islam. Egyptian Muslims traditionally bring the kiswa, or black brocade veil, for the sacred Kaaba. The mosque was originally built as a replica of Allah's (God's) house in heaven; it can hold 300,000 worshippers.

Mecca was first mentioned by the geographer Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD as Macoraba. It was a place of pilgrimage long before the birth of Muhammad in AD 570. Mecca was a major religious and commercial town on the ancient route from southern Arabia. Muhammad returned to Mecca in 630 after eight years of exile. He declared it a center of Muslim pilgrimage and dedicated it to Allah. As the capital of the province of Hejaz, Mecca was under Turkish rule until Hejaz gained its independence during World War I. In 1924 Ibn Saud conquered the city, and later it became part of Saudi Arabia. In late 1979 the Great Mosque was seized for ten days by some 200 Muslim extremists. In July 1987 more than 400 people were killed near the Great Mosque when thousands of Iranian demonstrators clashed with Saudi Arabian riot police. Saudi Arabia Population (1992 census), 965,697.